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$5.4 Million Awarded to Washington U. by Komen

UNSPECIFIED, UNITED KINGDOM - JUNE 04: Jess Fox launches The Pink Ribbonwalk at Cholmondeley Castle in Cheshire, to raise money for Breast Cancer Care. Supporters of the charity are sponsored to walk 10 or 20 miles in the countryside wearing pink. A Pink Ribbonwalk will also take place at Petworth House, West Sussex, on June 11 2011 at Cholmondeley Castle on June 4, 2011 in UNSPECIFIED, United Kingdom. (Photo by Jason Sheldon/Getty Images)

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Medical researchers at Washington University in St. Louis are getting a combined $5.4 million in grants for breast cancer studies.

The grants announced this week by Susan G. Komen for the Cure include $4 million for Matthew Ellis and Pascal Meier. They are seeking to better identify which women with ER-positive breast cancer are at highest risk for late recurrence. The study will then target those at high risk for more effective therapies.

Helen Piwnica-Worms will receive $900,000 for research on triple negative breast cancer, which is among the most difficult types to treat.

James Janetka will get $450,000 for efforts to develop therapy for the treatment and potential prevention of breast cancer metastasis.

Overall, Komen awarded 154 grants to researchers in 22 states and seven countries.